The 2020 Thanksgiving Offering is designated for support of the “I AM Academy”, a new racial justice initiative in our community that has recently received the endorsement of the Holland/Zeeland Community with a grant for seed money. The I AM Academy is the vision of Henry & Lindsay Cherry, an African-American couple who are leaders in the Black community in Holland. Henry Cherry is Director of Local Engagement at Christ Memorial Church and Lindsey is a 7th grade teacher for West Ottawa, and they describe the I AM Academy in this way:
I AM Academy is an organization that will help to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline systems within educational institutions through mentorships with students and community partnerships. Partnering with area schools, I AM Academy empowers African American adolescents and young adults to achieve their full potential by centering their identity, cultivating relationships, supporting educational success, providing college experiences, and facilitating job readiness; ultimately changing the narrative and trajectory of their community.
The Cherrys are developing this initiative in cooperation with local schools, as the I AM Academy connects directly to racial justice work needed to empower and support black youth. In their description, the Cherrys use the term “school to prison pipeline” to refer to the broadly documented systemic reality in the U.S. that young people of color are incarcerated at a steeply higher rate than white youth, and that this incarceration rate is tied directly to the inadequacies of the education system for students of color. They intentionally use this strong statement to face us with the reality that local systems play a part in this broader reality, and the resource and relationships envisioned through I AM Academy are a tangible way to intervene in such a trajectory. Your support for the Thanksgiving Offering is appreciated – using the ‘Thanksgiving Offering’ envelope from your offering envelopes, mailing in a check with the memo for the ‘Thanksgiving Offering’, or using the website Donate link and putting ‘Thanksgiving Offering’ in the memo box.